Francesco Molinari And Justin Rose Named Playing Captains For 2025 Team Cup

The Team Cup (formerly the Hero Cup) will return in 2025 for its second edition, two years after the inaugural match, as teams from Continental Europe and Great Britain & Ireland compete over three days of action.

With that due to begin on 10 January at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort, the playing captains have been confirmed. Francesco Molinari will lead the 10-man Continental Europe team, with Justin Rose at the helm for Great Britain & Ireland. 

The match will be 2018 Open champion Molinari's second stint in the role after he led Continental Europe to victory early last year, although it will be 2013 US Open winner Rose’s first time as captain as he takes over from 2023 Great Britain & Ireland leader Tommy Fleetwood.

The contest offers players an opportunity to gain valuable experience of team match play golf ahead of the Ryder Cup, which takes place at Bethpage Black in September next year. 

It also gives Team Europe captain Luke Donald the chance to cast his eye over some of the players who could potentially make the trip to the US to defend the trophy the team won at Marco Simone in 2023.

Donald explained why he thinks the match is a worthwhile endeavor. He said: “I’m really pleased that the Team Cup is returning as it provided some invaluable experience for a lot of players last year. I think all of us got a lot out of the week in terms of experiencing the uniqueness of a team environment.

“It also helped everyone involved to understand, through the past Ryder Cup captains who came and spoke to the players during the event, just what it means to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup."

On the appointment of Molinari and Rose, Donald added: “I am delighted that Francesco and Justin will assume the role of captains.

"We saw what Francesco was capable of when he led Continental Europe to a great victory in 2023 and Justin was inspirational both inside and outside the ropes at Marco Simone last year. I’m excited to see them go head-to-head.”

Molinari said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to captain Continental Europe again and to try and successfully defend the Team Cup. It was a really special week in 2023 and was great to see players from so many different countries across the Continent working towards one single goal."

Rose cited the chance to form a successful team from DP World Tour stars as a big attraction. He said: “There is so much exciting talent from Great Britain and Ireland on the DP World Tour right now – it will be great to have the chance to try and mould them into a winning team.”

Teams will be selected from the leading four available Continental European and Great Britain & Ireland players from the 2024 Race to Dubai Rankings, with the five additional players on each side being chosen by the captains, although Donald will have some input at that stage.

The teams will play one session of fourball on Friday, two sessions of foursomes on Saturday and one session of singles on Sunday. Meanwhile, every player will compete in all four sessions.  Each match will be worth a point, with the team reaching 12.5 points declared the winner.